Erie medical office to go insurance free

Harry Izbicki, D.O., 38, at left, and his brother Jon Izbicki, D.O., 40, were photographed in the records room at their medical office in the 3400 block of Peach Street in Erie on July 12. CHRISTOPHER MILLETTE/ERIE TIMES-NEWS

Izbicki Family Medicine has already kicked Medicare out of its office.

On Sept. 15, the Erie practice will cut ties with all commercial health insurers, including Highmark, UPMC Health Plan and HealthAmerica.

"We are going insurance-free," said Harry Izbicki, D.O., who owns the practice, at 3424 Peach St., with his brother, Jon Izbicki, D.O. "Patients will pay a monthly fee and receive unlimited office visits."

Stagnant insurance reimbursement rates and rising health-care costs have convinced the Izbicki brothers to create one of Pennsylvania's first insurance-free primary-care practices, according to the Pennsylvania Medical Society.

Other doctors, including Millcreek Township physician Jack Yakish, M.D., have converted to what is commonly called a "concierge practice," but this is different, said Harry Izbicki, 38.

In a concierge practice, a patient's insurance is still billed for visits other than an annual in-depth physical.

"In terms of just dropping insurance, we have not seen this trend in the state at all," said Chuck Moran, Medical Society spokesman.

At Izbicki Family Medicine, individual patients will pay $65 a month out of pocket, couples will pay $125 a month, and families with one child will pay $135 a month with an extra $5 a month for each additional child.

The fee will cover all office visits. The practice will also have an in-house pharmacy, where patients can get common generic prescriptions at wholesale cost, Jon Izbicki said.

"We will carry most of the 'bread-and-butter' drugs, like generic cholesterol, hypertension and diabetes drugs," Jon Izbicki said. "The price for most will be far less than what patients would pay out of pocket at a pharmacy."

Izbicki Family Medicine is also contracting with Quest Diagnostics to provide blood work at a reduced cost to the practice's patients at Associated Clinical Laboratories, Harry Izbicki said. The practice is also negotiating with a local diagnostic service for a similar deal on X-rays, CT scans and MRIs.

The Izbickis said they realize an insurance-free practice isn't for everyone. About 150 of their 3,000 patients have left since the doctors announced their intentions in June.

"We are prepared to lose up to 70 percent of our patients," Harry Izbicki said, "though we hope to keep as many as we can."

"We know it's not for everybody," Jon Izbicki said. "It's probably not for people who have insurance with a zero deductible."

The Izbickis said they believe going insurance free will enable them to spend more time with their patients. Appointments at their office are scheduled to last 30 minutes, an average they said they wouldn't be able to maintain if they kept accepting insurance.

Stagnant reimbursement rates have forced many doctors to squeeze more patients into their schedules so the practice doesn't lose money.

"We are hearing from our friends in hospital-owned practices that they are getting pressured to see 10 to 12 patients an hour (in 2014)," Jon Izbicki said. "Seeing a patient every six to 10 minutes, I can't even look at a patient's chart and say hello in six minutes, let alone find out what's wrong."

Kathie Gausman, 65, is sticking with the Izbickis even though she has a Medicare HMO plan that costs her $198 a month. One reason is that she has been a patient with the practice for 49 years, originally seeing the brothers' grandfather, Harry C. Izbicki, D.O.